Tag Archive: 2017 NPB Awards

Four NPB umpires were recognized for their work on the field this season.

Kinji Nishimoto
June 6 – Yokohama vs Rakuten at Yamagata
Top of the sixth inning, runner on first, one out, and Yokohama up 9-1. Takayuki Kajitani stole second. In the top of the 8th inning, Nishimoto warned both benches when Rakuten aggressively started throwing inside on Kajitani.

Takayuki Ichikawa
June 25 – Rakuten vs Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome
Top of the seventh inning, runner on first and one out. Ryo Hijirisawa’s bat hit the ball for a second time in fair territory. Ichikawa called offensive interference. He quickly and accurately handled the situation and announcement.

Masanobu Suginaga
August 1 – Hanshin vs Hiroshima at Mazda Stadium
Top of the ninth inning, runner on first and one out. The runner on first attempted to steal second as the batter struck out swinging. The catcher attempted a throw to second, but the batter got in the way. Suginaga called interference, ruled the runner out, and the game ended. He made a good call on a difficult play.

Kazuaki Nako
September 25 – Rakuten vs Softbank at YafuOku Dome
Top of the eighth inning, runners on first and second and no out. A hit resulted in a close play at home plate. The runner got his hand on home plate just in time and was appropriately ruled safe.

The NPB announced that Yokohama’s Toshiro Miyazaki and Seibu’s Takumi Kuriyama were winners of the 2017 Sky Perfect Dramatic Sayonara of the Year Award.

Central League

Toshiro Miyazaki, Yokohama

August 22 vs Hiroshima at Yokohama Stadium. Bottom of the 9th, none on, and no out. Miyazaki recorded a walk-off home run to left-center.

The Bay Stars scored first, but then allowed five unanswered runs to score through the next six innings. Hiroki Minei hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. The fireworks started early in the ninth: after the lead-off batter reached on a single, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo hit a two-run home run, followed by a solo home run by Jose Lopez to tie the game at five. Miyazaki capped off the explosive ninth with a walk-off home run to left-center. For Miyazaki, it was the first walk-off hit of hi career. The three consecutive home runs to end the game was a first in NPB history.

Pacific League

Takumi Kuriyama, Seibu

August 17 vs Rakuten at MetLife Dome. Bottom of the ninth, runners on first and second, and two out. Kuriyama entered the game as a pinch-hitter and hit a walk-off home run.

Seibu’s Yusei Kikuchi and Rakuten’s Tomohiro Anraku and were locked in a pitcher’s duel. Kikuchi held the Rakuten offense to two hits over nine innings. Anraku tossed seven shutout innings before he was relieved in the eighth. Yuhei Takanashi kept Seibu off the board in the eighth. Frank Herrmann took the mound in the ninth for Rakuten and retired the first two batters he faced. He then put runners on first and second with a double and a hit by a pitch. Kuriyama stepped up to the plate in place of Fumikazu Kimura and hit a walk-off three-run home run. The walk-off homer was the seventh of Kuriyama’s career and the first as a pinch-hitter.

Dennis Sarfate (Softbank)
* for setting a new NPB record with fifty-four saves

Takahiro Norimoto (Rakuten)
* for setting a new NPB record with eight consecutive double-digit strikeout games

Hitoki Iwase (Chunichi)
* for being the first pitcher in NPB history to pitch in 950 games

2017 Pacific League Awards

Manager of the Year

Kimiyasu Kudo (Softbank)
* guided the Hawks to their second Nippon Series championship in three years

Achievement Award

Tadahito Iguchi (Lotte)
* for his contributions over his long career

2017 Central League Awards

Manager of the Year

Koichi Ogata (Hiroshima)
* managed the Carp

Comeback Award

Hitoki Iwase (Chunichi)
* pitched in fifty or more games in fifteen consecutive seasons between 1999 and 2012, then forty-nine games over the next three years, before he appeared in fifty games this year.

The NPB announced today that a selection committee decided to give this year’s Matsutaro Shoriki Award to Dennis Sarfate. He is the first player to win the award since Shinnosuke Abe in 2012, the second foreign person to win the award (the other was Bobby Valentine in 2005 as manager of Lotte), and the first foreign player to ever win the award.

Sarfate hit a number of milestones this season. He racked up his 200th career save in July, became the second player in NPB history to record at least thirty saves in four consecutive seasons in July, became the second player in NPB history to record at least forty saves in three consecutive seasons in August, notched saves in seventeen consecutive appearances between August and September, and broke the NPB’s single-season saves record in September.